About 4 months later, Mike had been home sick with a bad case of the flu.  The very day he went back to work, Justice had very bad diarrhea when I got home.  It responded nicely to Kaopectate and in three days (and multiple rug cleanings) later, he seemed fine. 

Nine months pass without incident.  Mike and I decided we needed a weekend away so we left Justice with his Aunt Carol.  Carol breeds Airedales and grooms dogs.  She boarded Justice (a lot) for his prior owner and we continued to use her when we needed to because she is just so great with him and we really like her.  He gets treated like one of her own there.  We got home to the lake in the beginning of one of the worst snowstorms we had that winter.  Now, Carol lives in the middle of nowhere (and in this area, nowhere means hills and mountains).  It’s not far in good weather, but in snow, it’s another story, and the roads quickly get very bad.  We left immediately to pick Justice up.  What normally would have taken no more than an hour round trip, took several scary hours.  On the way home, we both noticed Justice had very bad gas that we attributed to him picking up on our stress level due to the conditions of the road.  He seemed fine when we got him home, tired (which is normal when he’s been playing with Carol’s 5) but okay.

In the middle of the night, I wake to hearing him throwing up.  And he wants to go out – NOW!!!!  Okay, boots, coat, hat, gloves (it’s still blizzarding badly).  Just barely make it outside and he has terrible projectile diarrhea.  It continues throughout the night, alternating with throwing up.  Daybreak reveals about 2 foot of snow.  Justice won’t eat or drink, and he’s still making hourly trips outside.  When our vet’s office opens, I call and no one’s in due to the weather.  They call me back and tell me to put him on Kaopectate and give him hamburger meat mixed with white rice (he wouldn’t touch anything).  The next morning he’s no better and we are all miserable.  I take him to the vet’s as so soon as they open.  They admit him because he is so dehydrated they need to give him fluids and they want to take tests.  That afternoon, he’s still not eating so they decide to keep him.  I go to pick him up the next afternoon after work, and all the tests are negative but he’s responding to the medicines they put him on.  His doctor decided it was stress from being boarding (after all, he’s an Airedale).  Now I feel guilty, but Justice was back to normal in a couple days.

6 months later it happens again.  This time the vet runs the same tests – which all came back negative (AGAIN) – and sends Justice home the same day.  He’s on the same medicines as before and, once again, responding beautifully.  This time the vet tells me it’s from eating grass (after all, he’s an Airedale).  I pointed out he wasn’t eating grass in the middle of a blizzard when it happened the first time and was told, that’s what caused it this time. 

Now we have spent over $1,000.00 in 6 months and are still no closer to an answer.  The worst of all for us, was watching the agony this poor dog went through each time this happened.  He would scream in pain each time he went and the diarrhea would be full of blood.  I was wiping his butt with Baby Wipes.  I started researching the Internet and I decided he was suffering from doggie Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  I call Justice’s vet and ask about keeping meds at home, so the problem wouldn’t get so bad before he’s seen.  Out of the question!!  In fact, he seemed appalled I would even ask. 

Just in passing at work, over lunch one day, I’m talking to a manager from another department and she tells me she’s had the same problem with 2 of her 3 Standard Poodles.  She now gives all 3 yogurt (not low fat, but regular yogurt, natural flavor or vanilla) with each meal.  Mike and I talked about it and decided to give it a try.  The idea behind the yogurt is the good bacteria cleanses the intestines of the bad bacteria.  As luck would have it, Mike has a retired vet come into the shop that very week.  He tells him the whole story and the medicines the vet has been using.  He asks Mike to get a copy of Justice’s records (which my vet made me pay for) and after reviewing them, the next day he brings us the meds to keep at home with exact instructions and doses. 

That was 2 years ago.  Twice during that time I started Justice on the medicines when I noticed a problem and he was fine.  I make sure he gets yogurt twice a day (and Bandit too) EVERY DAY, no exceptions.  This past year I have switched vets.  Our new vet believes in alterative and holistic medicines.  AND his brother has Airedales.  I will always keep medicine in the house for him and when he goes to Carol’s the medicine goes with him.  What he takes is: 500 mg. Metronkazog (dose: 2 every 12 hours for at least 5 days) and Ensorb (doggie Kaopectate – 2 every 4 hours until stools are normal).

Bottom line – don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to try something unconventional and if you don’t get the answers you want, don’t be afraid to get a 2^nd opinion.  Pay close attention to all the details of the problem.  I made notes that I gave to the vet.  Now they help me know when Justice’s is beginning a problem.  Justice starts with running stools and then they change to a mustard yellow color.  From that point on, it’s down hill!!  Now, I just don’t have to let it get any worse.  And, probably most importantly, DO NOT accept a vet making a diagnosis based on the fact that your dog is an Airedale. 

Just a FYI – I actually didn’t switch vets because of Justice’s problem even though I was thinking of doing so, but because of something that happened with Bandit.  We had an out-of-state family funeral to attend with my in-laws.  My neighbor watched Bandit and we left Justice with Carol.  I don’t know what happened with Bandit, but when we came home on Friday night, Bandit had a bladder infection.  The vet wouldn’t take him until Monday.  I decided right than and there enough was enough.  The vet we are going to now had just opened his new office right here at the lake.  I showed up on his doorstep, dog in tow, not during business hours, and no phone call.  10 minutes later, Bandit is being examined in one of the finest, most modern animal clinic I have seen since I moved to Pennsylvania. He is so good with his patients that you can tell immediately that he loves what he’s doing.  He does his own emergency calls, which is rare here.  The up and coming thing now is emergency clinics.  They open at night and close in the morning when the vets are open.  They are extremely expensive and, for us, about an hour away.  Not something I want to do in a true emergency.